NiuNiu - Film Fest Review
The film is a powerful narrative encompassing a theme that many people can identify with.

In the wake of analogue film’s great vanishing from the commercial film industry, a celluloid ghost materialises inside the ruins of a mysterious phantom cinema, beginning a phantasmagoric drift through death, rebirth, and the bardo like spaces in between.
The film is a powerful narrative encompassing a theme that many people can identify with.
There’s been a longstanding criticism of sci-fi films about its lack of Black characters. For the past few years, Anthony Mackie has been successfully representing Black masculinity in the otherwise homogenous genre and I am here for it.
CODA' is about a child of deaf adults torn between staying with her parents and her dreams of pursuing music. This film is a step forward for deaf representation and disability in movies despite negative messages about the burden of actors deaf deafness.
Films staring black transgender actresses/actors are few and far between, it’s refreshing to see a demographic represented in film that hardly gets any attention. This is especially important as the Black trans community has been shown in studies to face the highest level of discrimination amongst general trans and non-binary groups. That is why it’s so crucial that we amplify their voices through any way we can, storytelling being a great medium to do so.
Hiring bias is something that's rampant in all industries (even unconscious bias). But writing a script totally neutral not only opens the door for more diverse actors, but also for characters that are people first.
If you mix religious rituals with dark mythology, the result will be effective, and the story powerful in 90% of the cases. That is exactly what happens at the beginning of The Vigil.